Vietnam Art Books -- Calendars display VN's creativityby Duc Ngoc

Calendars display VN's creativityby Duc Ngoc

Though the Year of the Goat is still months away, potential customers are sheepishly flocking to a collection of more than one hundred calendars in HCM City.

The collection, known as Five Seasons, has been published by the Khai Tri Company and features a series of more than 500 photos and pictures from artists and photographers around the country.

The exhibit covers a wide range of topics including well-known local landscapes, traditional architecture, fashion, daily living, people with disabilities and war.

"Some of calendars of the Five Seasons exhibit are creating quite an impression among customers," said one buyer in HCM City.

"I am interested in photos and pictures of war.These calendars make me appreciate and love my peaceful life and give me a deeper respect for the people who devoted themselves to the country’s independence," he added.

"Until now, there has been nothing new in the calendar market, just the same designs which have been used again and again. Therefore, I decided to create a new flavour for the calendars this year," said the Five Seasons' designer Nguyen Tri Phuong Dong, who teaches Industrial Art at the HCM City Architecture University.

After working hard for five years, Dong and his 13 students collected and printed hundreds of pictures and, using graphic design techniques, weaved them into a calendar series.

"Half of our collection is stored on the computer, allowing customers to easily view the calendars before choosing their favourite," he said.

"A year has four seasons – spring, summer, autumn and winter. We gave our collection the name of Five Seasons because we’ve added another season for our customers – a season of youth and creation," he explained.

Dong said that publishing calendars had been a lucrative business for many years, but book shops and stationery outlets are now experiencing a decline in sales.

"HCM City calendar manufacturers and retailers are faced with a drop in customers. The current market is making many producers feel nervous," he said.

But with his new calendar collection, Dong believes many customers will be able to find a favourite to decorate their home in the new year.

Organised by the Viet Nam Fine Arts Association, the Viet Nam Photographic Artists Association and the HCM City Fine Arts Association, the Five Seasons is currently showing at the HCM City Fine Arts Gallery at 97A Pho Duc Chinh in District 1.

The exhibition will be held from October 12-16 at 66 Nguyen Thai Hoc – Ba Dinh District in Ha Noi.